These are the candidates running in Whatcom County’s Aug. 2 primary
Legislative races in northern Whatcom County’s 42nd District are the most contentious locally, now that the ballot is set for the Aug. 2 primary.
All three open seats in the 42nd District have drawn multiple candidates, with intra-party rivalries.
The candidate filing period closed at 4:30 p.m. Friday, May 20, and the ballot order was chosen by a random drawing.
This year’s primary features races for one U.S. senator, U.S. House and the state Legislature, along with Whatcom County prosecutor, local judicial seats and the partisan precinct committee officers.
Voters also will elect a secretary of state to replace Kim Wyman, a Republican who left office to join the Biden administration. Gov. Inslee named state Sen. Steve Hobbs, a Democrat, to replace Wyman, but Hobbs must face the voters to fill the two years remaining on Wyman’s term.
Several local races have drawn more than two candidates.
In Washington state’s vote-by-mail primary, the top two candidates advance to the Nov. 8 general election, regardless of party affiliation.
There were 154,741 active registered voters in Whatcom County as of Wednesday, May 18, Auditor Diana Bradrick told The Bellingham Herald in an email.
Online voter registration and address changes are available through Monday, July 25.
Residents can register and vote until the polls close at 8 p.m. on Election Day, but they must do so in person.
Ballots will be mailed July 13, according to the auditor’s calendar. They must be placed in special ballot drop boxes or postmarked — not simply mailed — by 8 p.m. Aug. 2.
Candidates have until Monday, May 23, to withdraw from the primary, according to the online calendar at the Whatcom County Auditor’s Office, which runs local elections.
2nd Congressional District
After last year’s redistricting, all of Whatcom County is in the 2nd Congressional District instead of being split between the 1st and 2nd districts.
Washington’s 2nd District now includes all of Whatcom, Skagit, Island and San Juan counties, plus the western part of Snohomish County.
Ten candidates have filed to run:
▪ Rep Rick Larsen, D-Everett, is the incumbent. Larsen, who was first elected in 2000, is a member of the House Armed Services Committee and the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. He has a master of professional studies degree from the University of Minnesota.
Larsen raised $827,444 through May 18, according an online Federal Elections Commission report.
▪ Jason Call, a Democrat, is a former high school math teacher who is now a commercial building inspector for an insurance company. He earned bachelor’s degrees in political science and education, and has a master’s degree in education from the University of Washington-Bothell, Hart told The Herald in an email.
Call raised $120,590 through May 18, according an online Federal Elections Commission report.
▪ Cody Hart of Sedro-Woolley lists himself as a MAGA Republican. Hart is an engineer who owns a civil-engineering firm and has worked on roads, bike paths, sidewalks, fish passages, water systems and sewer systems throughout Whatcom, Skagit, Island, and San Juan counties, Hart told The Herald in an email.
Hart reported no fundraising through May 18 to the Federal Elections Commission.
▪ Leif Johnson of Greenbank, who’s running as a Republican, has a bachelor’s degree in industrial technology and has worked in the tool and die trades, according to his website. He didn’t respond to a Herald request for additional information.
Johnson raised $17,091 through May 18, according an online Federal Elections Commission report.
▪ Bill Wheeler of Everett is a Republican and a U.S. Air Force veteran, according to his website. He has a master’s degree in business administration and is working toward a doctorate in that field. Meanwhile, he’s working as a maintenance technician for an Everett company that makes airplane parts, he told The Herald.
Wheeler reported no fundraising through May 18 to the Federal Elections Commission.
▪ Carrie R. Kennedy of Oak Harbor is running as a Republican.
Kennedy reported no fundraising through May 18 to the Federal Elections Commission. She didn’t complete a Herald request for additional information.
▪ Dan Matthews, a Republican from Mukilteo.
Matthews reported no fundraising through May 18 to the Federal Elections Commission. He didn’t respond to a Herald request for additional information.
▪ Doug “Yoshe” Revelle of Bellingham offered no party preference. He has a bachelor’s degree in psychology and math from Guilford College in Greensboro, N.C.
Revelle reported no fundraising through May 18 to the Federal Elections Commission.
▪ John Welch of Orcas Island, who is running as a conservative, is the manager of the Orcas Ferry Terminal. He was homeschooled.
Welch reported no fundraising through May 18 to the Federal Elections Commission.
▪ Brandon Lee Stalnaker of Stanwood is running as a Republican. He filed to run late Friday and information about him was unavailable.
Stalnaker reported no fundraising through May 18 to the Federal Elections Commission.
40th Legislative District Position 1
Each state legislative district has two House representatives who serve two-year terms and one senator who serves a four-year term. Only the 40th District’s two House members’ terms are up for election this year.
Washington’s 40th District includes San Juan County and parts of western Whatcom and Skagit counties.
▪ Rep. Debra Lekanoff, D-Bow, is running unopposed. Lekanoff is vice chair of the House State Government and Tribal Relations Committee, according to her website. She also sits on the Appropriations Committee and the Rural Development, Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee.
Lekanoff has raised $76,720 through May 18, according to the state Public Disclosure Commission.
40th Legislative District Position 2
▪ Trevor Smith, a Democrat, is political director and business agent for Laborers Local No. 292 and a former chairman of the 40th District Democrats. He graduated from the NW Laborers apprenticeship program and from Skagit Valley College’s Leadership Skagit program.
Smith has raised $10,313 through May 18, according to the state Public Disclosure Commission.
▪ Rep. Alex Ramel, D-Bellingham, is climate policy adviser for the environmental group Stand.Earth. Ramel has a bachelor’s degree in environmental policy and planning from Western Washington University. He was named to replace former Rep. Jeff Morris in January 2020, and was elected to his first full term later that year.
Ramel has raised $75,688 through May 18, according to the state Public Disclosure Commission.
42nd Legislative District Senate
Each state legislative district has two House representatives who serve two-year terms and one senator who serves a four-year term. Washington’s 42nd District includes northern Bellingham neighborhoods and the rest of northern and eastern Whatcom County.
▪ Sen Simon Sefzik, R-Ferndale, a former White House intern and recent graduate of Patrick Henry College, was appointed in January to serve the remainder of Sen. Doug Ericksen’s term after he died in December 2021 following a five-week battle with COVID-19.
Sefzik has raised $121,065 through May 18, according to the state Public Disclosure Commission.
▪ Rep. Sharon Shewmake, D-Bellingham, an economics professor at Western Washington University, is leaving her House Position 2 seat to run for state Senate. She was elected to the state House in 2018 and re-elected in 2020.
Shewmake has raised $97,756 through May 18, according to the state Public Disclosure Commission.
▪ Whatcom County Council member Ben Elenbaas of Custer is running as a Republican. Elenbaas, a farmer who also works at the BP Cherry Point Refinery, is in his first term on the County Council.
Elenbaas has raised $79,687 through May 18, according to the state Public Disclosure Commission.
42nd Legislative District Position 1
▪ Rep. Alicia Rule, D-Blaine, is a therapist in private practice, and serving her first term in the state House. A former member of the Blaine City Council and founder and former president of the Blaine Downtown Development Association, Rule is vice-chair of the Children, Youth and Families Committee and also serves on the Community and Economic Development and Capital Budget Committees.
Rule has raised $73,805 through May 18, according to the state Public Disclosure Commission.
▪ Tawsha (Dykstra) Thompson, a Lynden Republican, is a former Bellingham Police sergeant who was fired from the department in December 2021 after failing to comply with the city’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate. She applied to replace Ericksen when the County Council was choosing a successor in January.
Thompson has raised $29,747 through May 18, according to the state Public Disclosure Commission.
▪ Kamal Bhachu of Blaine, who lost a November 2021 bid for the Whatcom County Council at-large seat, is running as a Republican.
Bhachu, who immigrated from India, attended Bellingham Technical College, earning degrees in both automotive technology and construction technology.
Bhachu has raised $6,315 through May 18, according to the state Public Disclosure Commission.
42nd Legislative District Position 2
Four people are seeking the House seat left open when incumbent Rep. Shewmake decided to run for state Senate.
▪ Kyle Christensen, a Republican and former mayor of Sumas who’s now working as Whatcom County recovery manager, assisting relief efforts from the November 2021 floods.
Christensen has raised $21,671 through May 18, according to the state Public Disclosure Commission.
▪ Dan Johnson, a Republican and former owner of a Whatcom County towing company who runs a vlog called “The Hook.”
Johnson has raised $41,396 through May 18, according to the state Public Disclosure Commission.
▪ Richard May of Blaine, a Democrat who’s a member of the Blaine City Council.
May has raised $52,873 through May 18, according to the state Public Disclosure Commission.
▪ Joe Timmons of Bellingham, a Democrat who’s serving as Gov. Jay Inslee’s regional representative in Northwest Washington.
Timmons has raised $44,196 through May 18, according to the state Public Disclosure Commission.
Prosecuting attorney
Whatcom County Prosecutor Eric Richey, who was first elected in 2018, is running unopposed.
Richey has raised $519 through May 18, according to the state Public Disclosure Commission.
District Court Judge Position 1
▪ District Court Judge Angela Anderson was appointed by the Whatcom County Council in June 2021 to fill the remainder of retiring Judge David Grant’s four-year term, which ends at the end of 2022.
Before she took the bench, Anderson was a lawyer at Anderson Legal, her law firm, defending clients accused of crimes in Whatcom and Skagit counties. She also is a public defender for the city of Lynden.
Anderson reported no fundraising through May 18, according to the state Public Disclosure Commission.
District Court Judge Position 2
Incumbent Judge Matthew Elich is not running.
▪ Jonathan Rands is an attorney in private practice, a trial lawyer focused on criminal defense, he told The Herald. He practices mostly in the district and municipal courts of Whatcom County. He owns the Law Offices of Jonathan Rands in Bellingham.
Rands has raised $39,360 through May 18, according to the state Public Disclosure Commission.
▪ David Nelson of Bellingham didn’t respond to a Herald request for additional information.
Nelson has raised $30,200 through May 18, according to the state Public Disclosure Commission.
▪ Gordon M. Jenkins of Bellingham is a senior deputy prosecuting attorney in the Whatcom County prosecuting attorney’s office where he tries felonies including assault, sexual abuse, robbery, domestic violence offenses, and homicide, he told The Herald in an email.
Jenkins has raised $10,448 through May 18, according to the state Public Disclosure Commission.
This story was originally published May 20, 2022 at 5:11 PM.
CORRECTION: Additional candidate information was added and fundraising numbers for Tawsha (Dykstra) Thompson and Ben Elenbaas were updated May 21, 2022. Fundraising totals for Richard May, Dan Johnson and Eric Richey were corrected May 25, 2022.
